🎈 Lead Balloon: When Ideas Sink Fast 🪙
go over like a lead balloon - Utterly fail. The analogy is to a lighter-than-air vehicle made of a heavy metal, forcing it to sink. The term dates from about 1950. The Los Angeles Times had it, “ ‘Malcolm Arnold’s ‘Grand, Grand Overture’ for vacuum cleaners went over like, ah, a lead balloon” (August 27, 1983).
✨Related and Similar Terms✨
- Fall flat - To fail completely.
- Bomb - To fail disastrously.
- Flop - A complete failure.
- Crash and burn - Fail spectacularly.
📚 Literature, Songs, and Movies 📚
- Literature: “Catch-22” by Joseph Heller – Features numerous scenarios where plans fail spectacularly.
- Songs: “From the Inside” by Linkin Park – Talks about the agony of failure.
- Movies: “The Room” (2003) - Famously went over like a lead balloon but gained cult status.
🙃 Humor-Filled Quotes 🙃
“You know you’re doing well when your brilliant idea goes over like a lead balloon – or, as I call it, progress!” - R. T. Laughwise
🌸 Inspirational Thought-Provoking Farewell 🌸
Embrace the lead balloons in life. They test gravity, and sometimes, they make for the best stories to tell. Like the great Thomas Edison once reflected, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
### Which of these is a real phrase?
- [ ] Swimming on dry land
- [x] Go over like a lead balloon
- [ ] Dancing with anchors
- [ ] Writing with cement pens
> **Explanation:** "Go over like a lead balloon" is a real phrase meaning utter failure. The others are just flights of fancy!
### Which analogy describes complete failure?
- [x] A lead balloon
- [ ] A flying carpet
- [ ] A helium balloon
- [ ] A paper plane
> **Explanation:** A lead balloon is the perfect analogy for something that fails completely, as it would sink rather than soar.
### True or False: ‘Bomb’ is synonymous with ‘go over like a lead balloon’
- [x] True
- [ ] False
> **Explanation:** Absolutely true! "Bomb" is a common slang term that means to fail disastrously, just like today's idiom.
